The NPC sets out to defeat the demon king-Chapter 16

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn~~~~~"

Cecilia let out a long, exaggerated yawn.

It was honestly the loudest yawn I'd ever heard from anyone.

Her entire body trembled slightly with the force of it, and her jaw looked like it might unhinge from her skull.

Honestly, I didn't even know a human could stretch their mouth that wide without dislocating something, but apparently, she could. And did. Effortlessly.

"It's so early..." she muttered, voice thick with sleep, her lids still drooping heavily over unfocused eyes. "Why do we have to wake up and walk like this so early...?"

"So that we can reach the village ahead of time," I replied plainly, already feeling the fatigue of explaining the same thing twice. "We're running out of food and water. The earlier we get there, the better. We need to resupply."

Only a few sips of water remained in our flasks.

It was just enough to wet the tongue, but not enough to quench our thirst.

And the last surviving piece of bread wasn't even large enough to split between us, let alone fill a stomach.

It was pathetic.

We hadn't encountered any monsters along the way either, which was weird in itself.

No monsters meant no hunting, and no hunting meant no meat. Our only protein lately had been hope, and that had long since dried up.

The rivers had all vanished from the trail, leaving only cracked earth and parched grass behind. Even a shallow puddle would've looked like a gift from the gods at this point.

If we didn't reach the village by the end of today, things would start getting ugly.

That's why I roused them before dawn, urged them to get moving as soon as the sun kissed the horizon.

Reluctantly, they followed.

But judging from their current states, you'd think they were dragged out of bed and marched to war.

Both of them looked utterly wrecked.

The goddess... her hair was an unholy mess.

Tangled, frizzy, sticking out in angles I didn't think were physically possible.

It looked like her scalp had gone through a twister.

A true disasterpiece of bedhead.

I had no idea how it got that bad.

I... didn't move around too much last night while she was giving me a thighjob, right?

Right...?

As for Cecilia, she wasn't spared either.

Her silky hair—normally so refined—was now jutting out in all directions, like it had been electrified mid-slumber.

If I didn't know better, I would've sworn a small tornado spun through her sleeping bag.

Still... I thought as I trudged ahead. Where are the monsters?

We'd walked for nearly half the morning now.

But then—

"Ughhh... Sirius, can we please take a break already?" the goddess groaned, dragging her feet like she was hauling chains.

Her body swayed side to side, sluggish and uneven, like she was on the verge of collapse. Her arms hung limply by her sides, and her eyes were glazed over in pure despair.

"The goddess is right, Sirius..." Cecilia added, her voice weak and breathy.

She was in just as bad shape—swaying with the same zombified rhythm, her steps heavy and faltering.

They both looked like they were auditioning for a role in an undead parade.

"I'm really hungry..." the goddess whined, clutching her stomach as if it were moments from eating itself. "Sirius, seriously... give me food or I'll die..."

"Sirius..." Cecilia added, a tremor in her voice, "Let's stop for just a moment, or it's going to end badly. My feet are screaming, and I haven't eaten. My stomach feels like it's imploding... and my head's spinning from waking up so early..."

These two... seriously.

They were different people, but right now, they looked like carbon copies of each other.

It was almost uncanny.

I exhaled, long and deep.

I'd been sighing so much today, I was starting to feel lightheaded myself.

"Alright then," I said at last.

"Yay!" they cried in unison, eyes lighting up with childlike joy.

It was honestly a little too synchronized.

I crouched down and dug through my backpack, fingers searching for something—anything—edible. But the options were bleak.

There was no meat. No jerky. Nothing remotely filling.

Just that one miserable scrap of bread, half-crushed, barely enough for a single person.

I sighed again, heavier this time.

My lungs were getting more exercise from disappointment than walking.

"Hmm...?"

As I crouched lower, my eyes caught something...

Something off about the terrain just ahead.

The earth was uneven.

Flattened.

Worn in places where it shouldn't have been.

Trampled grass, crushed plants—

Like a herd of large beasts had passed through recently.

But not too recently.

The signs were still visible, but not fresh.

I stood up slowly, letting my eyes trace the ground in front of us.

The same pattern extended onward, stretching ahead into the direction we were traveling.

It didn't look like it was caused by a single species either.

There were mixed prints of different sizes and shapes, some clawed, some hooved, some that didn't make any damn sense at all.

Not a pack, I thought.

A pack meant cohesion—wolves, maybe. But this?

This was a stampede of chaos. A migration of monsters, all heading in one direction.

And that direction...?

It was the same path we were currently on.

"What the hell...?" I muttered under my breath, dread prickling up my spine.

Something wasn't right.

And we were walking straight toward it.

"We need to move."

"Ehhhh~..."

Both of them groaned in unison.

"I said, we need to move. Now." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

This time, my voice was sharper and firmer.

That seemed to get through to them.

They glanced at each other, then nodded, finally sensing the tension in my voice.

After a short while, we found ourselves entering the forest again.

This pattern had repeated several times with us moving through thick woods, then crossing open grassy fields, and then diving right back into forest shade. Over and over again. A cycle of green walls and sunlit gaps.

Now, we were deep inside one of those forests again.

I reached out and placed a hand against a tree trunk, leaning all my weight onto it.

My fingers curled against the bark, the rough texture grounding me.

This... might've been the first time I'd ever felt fear like this.

Real, trembling fear.

My jaw clenched involuntarily, and I let out a frustrated grunt before lightly punching the tree bark.

The blow wasn't hard, but it carried all the weight of my frustration.

I hated how scared I'd gotten. I hated how I just bolted like that without a second thought.

If I was this pathetic now, how the hell was I ever going to reach Alice's level?

"What happened, Sirius?"

The goddess's voice was soft and gentle. Her eyes were focused on me, brows furrowed with concern.

She must've read my thoughts again.

"It's nothing," I replied. "I just felt like the path ahead might be too dangerous, so I figured we'd take a detour."

"It's fine if that's what you think is best," she said, "but are you okay? You look incredibly pale."

Was I really?

Well... that might be true.

But it wasn't just that.

I'd just seen something extremely unusual.

And honestly, being scared by that wasn't pathetic. Not by a long shot.

I'd never been beyond the village in my life. This entire journey was my first real step into the outside world.

I'd seen my father and the other villagers fend off monsters and bandits, but me?

I'd never been in an actual fight.

Sure, I'd managed that one sneak attack earlier.

That was the only reason I killed that one bandit.

But when it came to real combat—head-on battles or chaotic raids—I knew I'd freeze.

What use was I, really?

If I wasn't so useless, I might've been able to stop Alice from leaving.

If I weren't so weak, she wouldn't be suffering right now.

"Sirius."

The goddess's voice pulled me back. It cut through the spiral of self-hate like a blade.

"It's okay. Everything's going to be fine. We're here for you."

Her words caught me off guard.

I didn't expect something like that from her. Not from her. But...

I actually felt a bit calmer hearing it.

"Right..." I murmured. "No matter how useless I am... I'll use the goddess to get what I want."

She gave me a wry smile.

"When I said we're here for you, that's not exactly what I meant... but well, whatever. At least you seem like yourself again."

She smiled at me. Her smile was warm and bright.

There was something in that smile that reached deep into me and made something stir in my chest. I couldn't describe it well, but...

Maybe I was starting to warm up to her.

I mean, considering how close we'd been lately—literally—it was only natural, right?

We locked eyes for a moment.

Neither of us looked away.

Our faces... slowly leaned closer.

Closer.

Almost—

"Sirius! Lady Goddess!"

A voice rang out.

"I found a caaaveeeee!!"

It was Cecilia.

She came bounding back into view, clearly excited—where she'd gone off to, I didn't know.

"I found a—wait. Huh? What's going on here?"

"N-Nothing!"

Me and the goddess immediately turned away from each other, cheeks burning red.

We were both looking in opposite directions now, visibly flustered.

Honestly, why were we even embarrassed at this point?

We'd done way more embarrassing things already.